January: Reclaiming Winter Break

1/5/15 Tyson celebrated his 30th birthday!  Old man!  He has taken some really awesome pictures this winter like this wood duck from Beus Pond by our house.  He is such a great dad and works so hard for us and we love him!  The boys and I ordered Olive Garden to go and had it for him when he woke up that day (at 5PM).

 He loves a good tiramisu!

 For FHE that night I need to make some cut out figures of the boys so I told them to strike a pose and this is what I got.

1/7/15 Fin finally got to go out in the snow!  Good thing, because it sure disappeared fast!

1/8/15 Naughty babies are sure hard to be mad at when they're so cute!

 When everybody was finally better from all their ailments we made a list of all the fun things we wanted to do since we totally missed out on winter break with sickness!  I had bought a Groupon for tubing at Soldier Hollow.  We loaded everyone up one day and when we got to Park City I realized I was supposed to call and make a reservation at Soldier Hollow.  They said they were full for the entire day.  Luckily, Tyson had just been fishing/hunting in the area the day before and had driven past Gorgoza Park outside of Park City.  We ended up there and it turned out to be perfect for what we needed! 1/9/15

 1/11/15 Cute boys ready for church!

1/12/15

1/16/15  We made these cute shelves.  I'm so excited about how they turned out! 

1/20/15 We got to spend some time in Payson!  Those boys love playing with cousins and with their Grandpa!  Callan got some birthday Batman legos! 

 1/22/15 Fin fell asleep with Tyson on the couch.  We have to cherish these snuggle moments!

1/23/15 The boys went to their first "official" sleepover at Grama and Grampa's.  The sleepover was Willy Wonka themed.  Callan found the golden ticket!

Callan woke up to presents at Grama's the next morning for his birthday and had birthday toast with candles.  That's what he wanted!

Tyson worked Friday and Saturday at our neighbor's pharmacy in Layton.  We love that he's able to do other jobs on the side with his schedule!  Friday night I dropped off the kids and met Tyson.  We grabbed dinner and went to Get Some Guns & Ammo to practice shooting.  I did really well on the close up shots!  Unfortunately there were some incidents!  I pinched my skin while cocking the gun and then a hot bullet casing went right down my shirt!  And of course my garments were tucked in so it just sat there burning my stomach!  Crazy. We had a much needed good night's sleep!  

1/24/15  We got the kids the next day and got ready for Callan's birthday party!  He wanted to have a couple neighbor friends over for a t-rex party.  Tyson did an awesome impromptu pin the tail on the t-rex drawing.  The kids each colored their own tail.  They played some fun relay races and made fossil cookies.

 And we had some fun with photoshop.  They boys thought it was kind of cool.

1/26/15 Tyson and Grampa Cook took the boys skiing at Alta.  It was Tyson's first time too!  Tyson said the boys were being so lazy! They thought it was the hardest thing they had ever done!  But they did it and we were proud of them!

 While they were gone I received my results from my Ancestry DNA test.  I was very surprised that I didn't get more of my German ancestors' genes!  

Callan had his 4 year check up.  Everything was great.  We talked about his terrible leg pains at night.  He's been having them for 2.5 years now and at that point he was having them 3-4 nights a week.  It makes me so sad when he wakes up screaming and in so much pain!  I asked the doctor if we could do just a basic blood panel and make sure there wasn't something obviously off.  He agreed that the frequency and duration made it very strange and wanted to look into it further.  After that day the growing pains suddenly decreased drastically!  They've only been about once a week ever since!  I bet the doctor thinks I'm crazy!  I haven't taken him in for the labs yet.  I figured we'd give it a little more time now that it's not every night.

1/30 And because I can't resist a sleeping baby picture!  We have had such a hard time getting Fin to bed at night.  He used to go down really well, but lately he just wants to sit in the recliner with Tyson and watch a Jazz game.  One night on our way home from Walmart I said to Tyson, "I have an idea.  Lets put the older boys down and then you hide so Fin doesn't see you.  Don't sit down and watch TV or he'll want to sit with you."  From the backseat Callan yelled, "Mom!  Dad can do whatever he wants!  If he wants to sit down in his chair and watch TV, HE CAN!"  That Callan is very protective of his daddy!

1/31/15 A miraculous picture of Collette with all her nephews and niece - everyone looking except sleeping Isla!

The Rest of the Sick December

12/26/14 The boys were still a little sniffly, but wanted to play outside with their new sled.  (Side note: when the sled was wrapped under the tree Easton was SURE it was a new ironing board!)  Fin wanted to go outside so bad!  But mom wasn't up for the cold!

 The boys have spent tons of time doing artwork on their new table from Grama and Grampa Cook.

 Callan.  I don't know.

 12/27/14 We took the kids to Newgate Mall to see "Big Hero 6."  They loved it!  We got there pretty early so the boys went for a ride around the mall on a koala.  

 Fin was TERRIBLE at the movie.  I hardly got to see any of it.  We planned the movie specifically around his nap time and he was soooo tired.  He cried and cried unless I let him run around outside the theater.  When we got home, Callan laid down on the couch and was just really lethargic.  I took his temperature and realized he had a 103 degree fever!  At that point I realized that Fin was also sick.  I should have known by his behavior.  He had a fever as well.  Of course it was a Saturday night so I drove around forever searching for an instacare.  I only took Cal since he'd been sick for so long.  I told them it started out as what I thought was croup 10 days earlier and that he'd had a cold ever since.  They did a nose swab and we found out he had Influenza A.  Poor baby.  Apparently the flu shot wasn't very effective this year they said.  They gave us a prescription for Tamiflu.  I went to Walgreens and waited over an hour with my sick baby for the incompetent technician to tell me that my insurance didn't cover it and it was $220.  Lame!  So after hours and hours I took him home to bed and loaded up on Motrin.  When I got the kids to bed my throat and ears started KILLING me and I knew I was going down too!  It was a rough couple of weeks!  

Fin started out his sickness by being super loopy and wild.  He was acting drunk and hilarious and oh so loving.

 On a complete tangent we had a really bad wind storm and it snowed in the kitchen.  You could stand at the kitchen table and feel the snow hitting you in the face!  Our shower pipes froze cuz it got so cold.  It was a big pain!  Tyson heated up the house to 85 degrees for two days to thaw them out!  Ugh!

 Anyway, Callan very very slowly got better.  Fin was getting worse and worse and we were up in the night with him having trouble breathing.  By this point Tyson and I were extremely sick and it was so hard to take care of him!  Tyson had to start another work week and I was so nervous to be stuck at home with sleeping kids if Fin needed to go to the ER.

12/30

 The night of 12/30 Fin and I didn't sleep at all.  I took him to the ER around midnight because he was having such a hard time breathing.  I knew he needed a steroid.  It took forever and ended up costing a ton.  I wish I would have waited until morning and taken him to his doctor.  I didn't even have a voice.  I was whispering to the doctors and nurses.  It wasn't fun.

 Poor guy was so tired the next day he fell asleep in his high chair!  This never happens!

 We had lots and lots of sleepless nights!  But he's just a sweetie and, after a week or two, we finally all got better!

We rang in 2015 hoping for a germ-free year!

Christmas 2014

On the night of December 17, Callan started showing symptoms of croup.  He was up in the night coughing and wheezing and really didn't feel well.  The next morning was his preschool Christmas Party.  He was so excited to go especially since he had to miss the Thanksgiving party while we were in California. (PS while we were there we ended up at an instacare with Callan who had a double ear infection!)  He had his white elephant gift all wrapped and ready.  When he woke up in the morning he felt great.  His voice was barely there but I let him go to school!  I would feel terrible if I found out that any other kids got sick, but he wanted to go so bad!  He had a great time and felt ok.  I made him stay on the couch for a few days and rest.  The cough never went away but he's such an easy going kid that it was hard to tell if he was sick.  We had the Cook family coming over for a Christmas party the following Sunday and with the new babies I needed everyone to be well!  

Sunday morning began with Fin diving into his brothers' bath for the third time.  You'd think I'd keep a closer eye on him after it happening so many times!  It's hard because I can't shut the bathroom door to keep him out because I need to keep an eye on the ones in the bath!  Ugh!  There goes his Christmas outfit!

Sunday night the Cook fam came over for a pre-Christmas Eve party.  We had dinner and exchanged sister gifts.  We all pitched in to get my dad a Traeger.  He got to open it early since Kate and Trace wouldn't be there on Christmas.  And of course there were plenty of baby snuggles.  But not from my family!  We were still not sure if Callan was better or not.

We did the annual nativity.  I can't remember what everyone was... I'm thinking Callan was a shepherd, Easton the donkey, and Fin the angel?

 We joked about having two baby "Jesi" (like cactus -> cacti) but then decided Jack could be John the baptist.  

The next day Callan had a school field trip.  It was supposed to happen earlier in the month but had to be rescheduled during the break.  We went to a trampoline place in Syracuse.  Callan was still coughing and kind of moping so I wasn't sure it would be good for him, but I let them jump for an hour and they had a blast.  Especially Fin!  He was in heaven acting like one of the big kids.

On Christmas Eve the boys and I spent some time at the Cooks while Tyson slept.  The boys decorated some cookies for Santa and helped decorate the Santa tree.  We planned to see a movie but it was late and everyone was tired.  We decided to just go out to dinner.  The boys begged for Cafe Rio!  Smart kids.  After dinner we headed home for them to open their new PJs.  

Christmas morning was so fun!  The boys woke up at 4:30 and Tyson was right up with them!  He convinced me to wake up Fin because everyone was calling me a mean mom!

Here is Easton with all his loot!  He didn't know what to ask Santa for, but I think he did alright!  He got the little TV for his Sega downstairs.

Callan asked Santa for red sweat pants!  He's obsessed with his red clothes and only had red basketball shorts.  I wouldn't let him wear them in the winter so he decided to ask Santa for pants!  Pretty easy to please!

Finners has had so much fun with his lawnmower and duck and his baby animal songs have been a lifesaver!

He was ready for a nap by 8:00!

I got new pots and pans and knives!  Tyson got a Kindle Fire and a box of Kansas City Steaks.  

We headed to Payson and had fun opening presents and eating there.  We had to be home by 8 so Tyson could go to work.  We stopped in Sandy on the way home and were able to talk to Cassidy!  It was so fun and she looked beautiful.  I loved hearing her Spanish intonation in her English.

Tyson left early to get an hour of sleep before work since we had two cars.  It was a snowy and slow drive home but the boys and I made it and everyone slept nice and sound!  Another great Christmas!  We are so blessed!